GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI
DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-2029
ANSWERED ON-07/08/2023
CONTAMINATED DRINKING WATER IN EASTERN AND NORTH EASTERN STATES
2029. SHRI KAMAKHYA PRASAD TASA

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:-

(a) whether it is a fact that almost entire Eastern and North-Eastern States are suffering from high level of contaminated drinking water being drawn from groundwater;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether Government has taken any steps towards supply of safe drinking water there; and

(d) the proposals of Government to diffuse contamination and make available supply of treated and purified drinking water there?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE OF JAL SHAKTI(SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL)

(a) to (d) “Water” being a State subject, planning, approval and implementation of drinking water supply schemes, lies with State/UT Governments. Water Supply/ Water & Sanitation/ Public Health Engineering Departments and/or parastatal organization of respective State Government/ UT Administration, are responsible for making provision of water supply and ensuring quality of water supplied in their respective State/UT. Government of India is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar Jal, since August, 2019, in partnership with States/ UTs, to make provision of potable tap water supply in adequate quantity, of prescribed quality and on regular & long-term basis to every rural household in the country, including in eastern and north eastern States. 

At the time of announcement of Jal Jeevan Mission, 3.23 Crore rural households were reported to have tap water connections. As reported by States/UTs as on 02/08/2023, more than 9.47 crore additional rural households have been provided with tap water connections under JJM. Thus, ason 02/08/2023, out of 19.41 Crore rural households in the country, more than 12.71 Crore(65.49%) rural households are reported to have tap water supply in their homes. The State/UT,district & village-wise status of tap water connection in rural households, as reported by States/

UTs, is also in public domain and available on JJM dashboard at:

https://ejalshakti.gov.in/jjmreport/JJMIndia.aspx 

Under JJM, while allocating the funds to States/ UTs, 10% weightage is given to the population residing in habitations affected by chemical contaminants. States/ UTs have been advised to plan and implement piped water supply schemes based on alternative safe water sources for the villages with water quality issues. Since, planning, implementation and commissioning of piped water supply scheme based on a safe water source may take time, purely as an interim measure, States/ UTs have been advised to install community water purification plants (CWPPs) especially in Arsenic and Fluoride affected habitations to provide potable water to every household at the rate of 8–10 litre per capita per day (lpcd) to meet their drinking and cooking requirements. States/UTs have been advised to carry out testing of water quality on a periodic basis, i.e. once in a year for chemical and physical parameters, and twice in a year for bacteriological parameters and take remedial action wherever necessary, to ensure that the water supplied to households is of prescribed quality. 

As reported by States/UTs, as on date, there are 2,087 drinking water quality testing laboratories at different levels viz. State, District, sub-division and/ or block level in the country. To encouragewater quality testing to ensure potable drinking water supply, States/ UTs have opened water quality testing laboratories to general public for testing of their water samples at a nominal rate. States/ UTs have been advised to identify and train 5 persons, preferably women, in every village to conduct water quality testing using Field Testing Kits (FTKs)/ bacteriological vials at village level and report the same on the WQMIS portal. So far, as reported by states/UTs, more than 22.45 lakh women have been trained for testing water using FTKs. To enable States/ UTs to test water samples for water quality, and for sample collection, reporting, monitoring and surveillance of drinking water sources, an online JJM – Water Quality Management Information System (WQMIS) portal has been developed. As reported by States/UTs on WQMIS portal, as on 02/08/2023, more than 22.77 lakh water samples have been tested in the water testing laboratories and more than 31.57 lakh water samples using Field Testing Kits, during2023-24. The State–wise details of water quality test reported through WQMIS are available in public domain and can be accessed at:

https://ejalshakti.gov.in/WQMIS/Main/report 

As reported by States/UTs, since launch of JJM, out of 57,539 quality-affected habitations as reported on 1st August, 2019, safe drinking water has been made available in 39,960 habitations, including all the 14,020 Arsenic and 7,996 Fluoride affected habitations. As reported by the States/ UTs, except for some iron affected habitations in Tripura and Assam, there are no quality affected habitations in the north eastern states. Details of drinking water quality-affected habitations, as on\ 02/08/2023, are annexed.